EPHEDRINE AND HALLUCINATIONS

   The name ephedrine comes from the Greek noun ephedra, which means pony tail. It refers to an amphetamine-like alkaloid of the phenylethy-lamine group that was isolated from the plant ma-huang (i.e. Ephedra vulgaris) in 1885 by the Japanese organic chemist and pharmacologist Nagai Nagayoshi (1844-1929). In 1893, Nagayoshi synthesized "methamphetamine from ephedrine. In 1929, he also synthesized ephedrine itself, and elucidated its structural formula. Ephedrine, as well as the related substances norephedrine and pseudoephedrine, occur naturally in many species of the Ephedraceae family, a group of plants indigenous to Eurasia and the Americas. These species have been used since ancient times for ritual and medicinal purposes, as an aphrodisiac, and perhaps also as a stimulant in combat and hunting. The effects ofephedra are considered to be mildly euphoriant and stimulating. However, ephedra can be - and has been -used as an additive in hallucinogenic concoctions. A person intentionally employing ephedrine for the purpose of exploring the psyche may be called a " psychonaut.

   References

   Rätsch, Chr. (2005). The encyclopedia of psychoactive plants. Ethnopharmacology and its applications. Translated by Baker, J.R. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.

   Rudgley, R. (1998). The encyclopaedia ofpsy-choactive substances. London: Little, Brown and Company.